Top Items:


Here's how Republicans are planning to throw millions off Medicaid and lie about it — Trump is teaching his minions to say, “We didn't insure anyone"/"They deserved it." — A lot of the horror in the Donald Trump sequel is new. — Sure, he was terrible the first time James Comey and Vladimir Putin made him president.
Discussion:
The Hill
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Republicans' plans for Medicaid have a political problem — GOP lawmakers expected to vote soon on slashing the insurance program for low-income people represent tens of millions reliant on it. — House Republicans who represent large numbers of Medicaid recipients are pushing …
Discussion:
New York Times


The Trump Administration Keeps Citing an Untrue Stat as It Targets Federal Workers — A “survey of our niche audience for our niche audience” was the source for the claim that only 6% of federal employees are working full time in their offices. The number isn't true.
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Musk Vows to Suspend Federal Workers Who Don't Return to Office
Discussion:
New York Times, ABC News, Politico, Fox News, The Guardian, MeidasTouch News, The Hill, CBS News, New Republic, Twitchy, Daily Mail, Vanity Fair, Washington Times and Wired

Trump deploys SpongeBob meme to troll DOGE critics
Discussion:
The Hill, MeidasTouch News, CNN, Talking Points Memo, RedState, The Post Millennial, Bloomberg, New York Post, FEDweek and ClearanceJobs

Email starts power clash between Musk and agency leaders — even the Trump loyalists
Discussion:
Washington Examiner, WNYW-TV, Bloomberg, Townhall, Associated Press, Law & Crime, The Hill, The Independent, New York Post, New York Times, USA Today, Althouse, Fox News, ABC News, Wired, Breitbart, Washington Times and NPR


Right-Wing Commentator Named F.B.I. Deputy Director — The choice of Dan Bongino is a radical departure from the bureau's history of having a veteran agent serve in the key role that oversees operations. — Dan Bongino, a former New York City police officer and Secret Service agent turned right-wing pundit …
Discussion:
Doomsday Scenario, Rolling Stone, The Hill, Politico, Democrats, Blaze Media, Axios, Associated Press, WNYW-TV, Zeteo, Washington Times and Deadline
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Trump names podcaster Dan Bongino as deputy FBI director — US President Donald Trump has appointed podcaster and commentator Dan Bongino as deputy director of the FBI. — Trump posted on social media that Bongino was “a man of incredible love and passion for our Country” …
Discussion:
Wall Street Journal, Scripps News, Fox News, HotAir, Washington Post, Twitchy, The Verge, Axios, Waddy Is Right, The Independent, NBC News, The Hill, Must Read Alaska, Daily Mail, Reuters, The National Pulse, Mediaite, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Gateway Pundit, Raw Story and New Republic


UPDATE on town hall chaos: Woman who was dragged out speaks, police chief condemns security, name of security firm confirmed — COEUR d'ALENE — A legislative town hall organized by the Kootenai County Republican Central Committee devolved into chaos Saturday when unidentified …
Discussion:
The Independent


Apple will spend more than $500 billion in the U.S. over the next four years — Teams and facilities to expand in Michigan, Texas, California, Arizona, Nevada, Iowa, Oregon, North Carolina, and Washington — Plans include a new factory in Texas, doubling the U.S. Advanced Manufacturing Fund …
Discussion:
The Hill, TechCrunch, The Verge, KHOU-TV, The Daily Caller, Semafor, New York Times, BGR and 9to5Mac
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Apple, Under Threat from Trump Tariffs, Will Add 20,000 US Jobs
Discussion:
Reuters, more at Techmeme »


DOGE is the Theranos of Cost-Cutting — And other notes from the Chaos — Today's post will really be two short posts on different but related topics: The failure of DOGE to make any progress on its stated goals, and what's beginning to look like a rapid loss of confidence in Donald Trump's economic policies.
Discussion:
Musk Watch and Newsweek
RELATED:

Despite the hype, DOGE hasn't found a shred of fraud
Discussion:
Kevin Drum and Poynter


Judge blocks DOE, OPM from disclosing troves of sensitive personal data to DOGE — A federal judge on Wednesday temporarily barred the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from accessing troves of sensitive personal data from federal agencies. — U.S. District Judge Deborah Boardman ruled …
RELATED:

Judge blocks OPM, Education Department from sharing personal info with DOGE
Discussion:
Reuters, MeidasTouch News, Fox News, The Guardian, WHDH-TV, Raw Story and Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion


Angry Democratic donors turn off the flow of money — Democrats are anxious to rebuild their party on the heels of President Trump's victory in November. But they have a major problem as they try to refashion their brand: The money isn't there. — Democratic donors …
Discussion:
RedState, Breitbart and The Gateway Pundit


The U.S. Economy Depends More Than Ever on Rich People — The highest-earning 10% of Americans have increased their spending far beyond inflation. Everyone else hasn't.


Supreme Court rejects challenges to abortion clinic ‘buffer zone’ laws that restrict protesters — The two cases questioned a longstanding precedent that upheld such laws, which opponents say violate free speech rights. — WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday declined to consider overturning …
Discussion:
USA Today, The Hill, Bloomberg, Associated Press and CBS News


Roberta Flack, '70s R&B Vocalist Known for ‘Killing Me Softly,’ Dies at 88 — Legendary pop/R&B vocalist Roberta Flack, who was launched to stardom in the early '70s by the Grammy-winning hits “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” has died …
Discussion:
New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Consequence, New York Post, New York Daily News, Daily Mail, CBS News, WCIA.com, Extra and Fox News


Lester Holt is stepping down as anchor of ‘NBC Nightly News’ after a decade — Holt will move full time to NBC's news magazine show “Dateline” at the beginning of the summer. — Lester Holt, the anchor and managing editor of “NBC Nightly News” for a decade, announced Monday that he is stepping …
Discussion:
New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Deadline and CBS News, more at Mediagazer »


Congestion Pricing Reduced Traffic. Now It's Hitting Revenue Goals. — Revenue figures from the Manhattan tolling plan showed that the program is on track to raise billions for mass transit repairs. — New York's congestion pricing plan raised $48.6 million in tolls during its first month …
Discussion:
New York Post and Fortune


Just 1 in 3 approve of job Trump doing on inflation: Survey — Just 1 in 3 people approve of the job President Trump is doing to curb inflation, a survey released Sunday found. — Thirty-two percent of respondents in the poll, released Sunday by Reuters and Ipsos, approve of the job Trump …
Discussion:
Bangor Daily News and Reuters


Trump Just Fired 6,700 I.R.S. Workers in the Middle of Tax Season. That's a Huge Mistake. — If you were to ask the top chief executives in the world to name the best strategy to attack waste in their organizations and balance the books, there is one answer you would be very …
Discussion:
Syracuse Post-Standard, Marketplace and Raw Story


What Felt Impossible Became Possible — I've spent many hours since the election reading about the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s. It started the day after election day when I had hours to kill in the lobby of a Hampton Inn, waiting for a room to open up. I loaded a library archive page up on my phone …


As Facebook Abandons Fact-Checking, It's Also Offering Bonuses for Viral Content — ProPublica is a nonprofit newsroom that investigates abuses of power. Sign up to receive our biggest stories as soon as they're published. — Hours after Donald Trump was sworn in as president …
Discussion:
TechCrunch


Germany's Merz vows ‘independence’ from Trump's America, warning NATO may soon be dead — BERLIN — Friedrich Merz did not even wait for the final results in Germany's election before delivering what could well be a defining verdict on U.S. President Donald Trump, consigning Europe's 80-year alliance with the United States to the past.
Discussion:
MeidasTouch News, Deutsche Welle, The Guardian, Fox News, Financial Times, Chicago Tribune, The National Pulse, Associated Press, New York Times, Mediaite, Axios, Bloomberg, The Independent, Raw Story, Irish Examiner, CBS News, Al Jazeera, Agence France-Presse, The Kyiv Independent and Reuters


The Real Goal of the Trump Economy — The president isn't trying to engineer prosperity for Americans. He's seeking power for himself. — A quarter century ago, Vladimir Putin gathered 21 of Russia's top oligarchs in the Kremlin to let them know that he, not they, held power in Russia.

The Administrative State's Two Faces — The attack on the administrative state takes on only half of it—the wrong half. — Meet The Authors … In many ways, the first month of the second Trump administration has been shocking. The President has quickly and emphatically demonstrated …


February 23, 2025 — Something is shifting," scholar of authoritarianism Timothy Snyder posted on Bluesky yesterday. “ They are still breaking things and stealing things. And they will keep trying to break and to steal. But the propaganda magic around the oligarchical coup is fading.
Discussion:
Digby's Hullabaloo


Trumpism Is Not Inevitable — It's a time for taking the tiny wins where you can get them. On Friday, The Bulwark published a piece spotlighting the story of Scott Curtis, a FEMA chief of staff who took Elon Musk's “Fork in the Road” buyout offer—and then was fired anyway.
Discussion:
The Independent


‘People are really bulled up’: Stock surge has some on Wall Street worried — A growing collection of hedge fund managers, financiers and analysts say the markets are now running too hot and are at risk of a sudden downturn. — Donald Trump's election helped turbocharge an already surging bull market …
Discussion:
Raw Story


Hack at Department of Housing and Urban Development Trolls Donald Trump and Elon Musk | Report — The hack has ended, but the images are circulating on the internet. — A hack at the Department of Housing and Urban Development this morning has now trolled Donald Trump and Elon Musk by playing a short …
Discussion:
Daily Mail


What Elon Musk's war on federal workers owes to Gamergate — The long-ago troll tantrum from video gamers upset by women kicked off the culture wars for the stupid era — One of the most unnerving aspects of billionaire Elon Musk's illegal rampage through the federal government is how stupid it is.